I have simple goals. To see my children have a better life than me, thus knowing even my grand children will have the same. In the closer run, I would like to start an informal grocery stand (kibanda) and ply wares of veggies and fruits, to supplement our income as a household.

GiveDirectly makes dreams come true, and offers hope. Never would I have believed that an organisation would come, asking for nothing in return, yet offer to fulfill ones dreams! All I would ask is that GiveDirectly consider coming back and continuing to help us with the many other projects we may have as past recipients, while also asking they continue to register as many people as they can, because so many people are in need of the kind of assistance that only GiveDirectly is offering.

As a mother of 9, three of whom are done with school, I'm sure you can guess where most of my funds went to. That's right, school fees! Other than clothes for the kids, a sack of maize for milling to consume and a much needed mattress, all the other funds went towards their schooling. My eldest, school going child, requires KES. 15,000 per term to attend Pentagon Secondary, the one at Meru Kahanga Secondary needs KES. 25,000 per term, while the other 4 in school also need tuition fees. With that, it's easy to see how the funds got properly utilised, trying to balance the tuition fees and keep us as a family in the black, debt wise. While my husband, who runs a hotel in Mombasa, helps with the expenses, I'd be a liar if I said that GiveDirectly did not greatly give us a boost in the direction we so desperately needed.

My helper had my phone when a message from GiveDirectly popped up. On reading through it, she confirmed the receipt of the first transfer. She quickly rushed to where I was, opened the account, and checked the balance. We were both excited and thanked God for the timely support from GiveDirectly.

The biggest difference in my daily life is the peace of mind I am enjoying at the moment after clearing school fees for my children. They are also happy that they have settled down in school and are no longer missing any lessons like in the previous months. I am grateful to GiveDirectly for the generous support that solved many problems my family has been struggling with.

I spent part of my first transfer on school fees for six of my children who had been facing lots of disturbances whenever they came home to collect the arrears. I am happy that after spending half of the transfer on settling their school fees, I also bought them new school uniforms and school boxes they are using to keep the books in school. In addition, I bought foodstuff worth KES 65000 for my family of 11, bought a bed and two mattresses at KES 8000, and spent the remaining KES 65000 on buying two sheep that I am currently rearing. I hope to breed them, and as they multiply, they will be useful in the future when paying school fees for my younger children.